Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 3:16 (New International Version)

¹⁶ The LORD says,
“The women of Zion are haughty,
walking along with outstretched necks,
flirting with their eyes,
tripping along with mincing steps,
with ornaments jingling on their ankles.

In this chapter, God is angry with His people. He lists their sins and their coming punishments. Verse 16 tells of the sins of the women. The next verse tells of the result:

¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion;
the LORD will make their scalps bald.”

Not good.

Each generation reads verse 16 in light of it current circumstance. In America, we have read these verses ten different ways – one each for each decade – in the last 100 years. What does “outstretched necks” mean anyway?

The key word here, the word that doesn’t seem to change meaning with the change of styles, is haughty. Dictionary.com defines it as:

adjective: disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant; supercilious: haughty aristocrats; a haughty salesclerk.

I still lots of words that are interpreted through the culture of the day. I guess what comes to mind across culture is that these women expected to be served instead of expecting to serve.

God has never liked that attitude. He has never displayed it.

God, grant us humility and the heart of a servant.